The holidays can be the toughest time of the year. We expect warm nostalgia, celebrations—both sacred and secular—overflowing with family warmth and bonding. For queer people estranged from their families of origin, this can be doubly difficult. Grief, too, can be one of hardest things to deal with around the holidays.

Extra expectations, financial strains, and social isolation cause depression rates to rise. Many people have tensions with their loved ones over their sexuality and gender expression. When that’s coupled with the extra religious observances that take place in the holiday season, it can be rough.

When I read Rev. Cody Sanders' new little gem, A Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth, I get the feeling that I’m sitting with a very smart and very compassionate friend. He knows that I am eager, but a little intimidated.

For some people, religion has no influence their way of living. For others, religion is as important as breathing. Whichever way you experience religion, there’s no denying that it is a main topic of discussion, from the media to family dinner tables. It is a topic we can never escape from, and coming from a religious Islamic family I know that first hand.

I was excited to take my now husband to the city I had considered home for many years. It was going to be his first time in New York City, having lived his whole adult life in the Pacific Northwest. I had lived in New York City for several years before moving to Washington State and I was excited to show him the city.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear a case about whether religious beliefs give businesses that are open to the public a right to discriminate. The case is about David Mullins and Charlie Craig, who visited Masterpiece Cakeshop in 2012 to order a cake for their upcoming wedding reception.